Striking a Bond
by sultrysweet
Summary: After Regina merges back together with the Evil Queen, Emma whisks her and Henry away to Manhattan to help Regina get used to being both the light and dark parts of herself. As the three of them work to accomplish one goal, Emma and Regina reach another goal entirely.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** For Alicia.

First inspired by JMo's boxing picture and further spurred on by Lana and Jen's sword fighting for season 6.

Thanks to omgcantbreathe for helping with this thankfully final rewrite. This was my fifth attempt at this "sweaty SQ" idea and I finally found something that worked and interested me enough to see it through to the end. Also, I have this planned out as a threeshot, but there might be a fourth chapter to wrap everything up.

* * *

Rain tapped and slid down the large apartment windows Emma hadn't looked through in a while. The view wasn't particularly nice, but the skyline was at least partially visible in the distance and she was lucky enough that rent wasn't a bitch and there was a vacancy. Especially since she hadn't been the most recent tenant since she'd last lived there. Mostly the view was of the brick building right across the street.

She sat in a chair she'd pulled up in front of one of the windows in the main area of the apartment and ate Chinese takeout as she watched the rain fall. It was a miserable night in New York given the weather, but it was even worse inside that apartment. Regina hadn't spoken much since they'd left town and Henry wanted nothing more than to cheer his brunette mother up, which didn't quite work. Emma saw it in Henry's eyes that their son knew when Regina faked a smile for his, or anyone's, benefit and that was exactly what the other woman had done ever since they packed up the Mercedes and left town.

Emma didn't talk to Regina about it. It had only been a few days since they'd arrived and she didn't want to push too hard, and definitely not too soon. So she sat alone at the window and tried to remain focused on why the three of them were there. She wanted to help. Their trip to New York wasn't at all about her. What they were doing—what Henry had insisted he be there for support—was for Regina. The brunette had asked for it, but Emma had suggested what else they could do to help Regina re-assimilate to her own body, darker impulses and the wave of warring feelings she'd put back inside herself after they'd taken care of Hyde and the other "untold stories."

"Do you think this will work," Henry asked and caused Emma to jump in shock at the sound of his voice.

She looked over her shoulder as she brought her plastic spoon back into her Styrofoam container, a mouthful of rice, and chewed for a moment before she turned toward him. "You shouldn't worry about it."

"But I am worried."

"Henry, it was her idea to get away from home."

"Yeah, but maybe here wasn't the best place for her to be. We could have gone to Boston or stayed somewhere else in Maine."

"What's different about any of those places and here?"

"We lived here when Mom couldn't, when Mom knew we were out here somewhere and we didn't remember her."

Emma sighed. "This might actually be the best place for her then."

"How?"

"It's like we're sharing that part of our lives with her. It's like…she couldn't be here back then, but we're all here now. We're _together_ now."

Henry hesitated, but nodded after a few seconds. He didn't walk away. Just stood there and stared at her for another moment before he looked out the window. His eyes glazed over like he wasn't really looking at the view and had instead used it as a way to zone out.

She set her food down on the windowsill and brushed off her hands to remove any stray pieces of fried rice that might have transferred over from the container. She turned to Henry again and reached for him. He stepped forward and she gently grabbed his forearm as he continued to move toward her. She rubbed his arm, up and down, and flashed a sad, and what she hoped was also at least semi-assuring, smile. "Hey, we're gonna get through this. Whatever happens, we're sticking by her. Right?"

He nodded again, but kept his eyes cast down on the hardwood floor beneath his socked feet.

"As long as we all have each other to lean on, we can't lose," Emma said. "I went so long without having anyone on my side, but now I know what it feels like to have exactly what we're giving Regina. Love and support. Maybe it'll take more than a week. Hell, we've already paid this month's rent so it'd be more financially beneficial if we stayed through until the next payment is due, but however long it takes…we'll do what we came here to do. We aren't gonna leave until she's ready."

Emma grabbed Henry's hand and gave it a small squeeze. He squeezed back.

"Okay," Henry quietly conceded. "For Mom."

Emma smiled again, less faked and warmer than the first one she'd given him. "For Regina."

* * *

When her back hit the wall, she knew she was doomed. The air rushed out of her lungs seconds before plump lips crashed against hers. It was a mistake. It had to be. But the kiss was firm and the woman those lips belonged to was confident. And despite Emma's belief that the kiss, soon followed by a second and third, didn't keep the blonde from kissing back and sliding her hands over the other woman's hips.

Emma curled her fists in the ribbed fabric of Regina's old but still semi-fitted army green tank top and pulled the brunette closer. Her hold on the shirt wasn't strong enough to do much, but Regina seemed to want the same thing she did when Regina pressed flat against her. The arch of the brunette's back pushed their breasts together and formed an irresistible slope from the center of her back to the swell of Regina's rounded ass.

Emma kept one hand on Regina's hip and slid the other along the slope until her fingers grazed the waistband of Regina's soft, black shorts. She paused before she wandered any further south and was rewarded for her patience with a bold swipe of a tongue against hers. She felt the tip of that tongue flick up along the roof of her mouth before another kiss was initiated and Emma couldn't resist any longer. She skimmed past the waistband of the shorts to cup Regina's ass, but the move was instantly equivalent to dumping a bucket of ice water on the two of them.

Regina immediately tore herself away from Emma. Brown eyes were wide and a hand flew to her mouth. Fingers covered her lips from view for a seconds before she wiped over her mouth with the back of her hand.

Emma watched with equally wide eyes, but she scoffed when Regina pulled that little stunt. "You weren't complaining two seconds ago about the kiss _you_ started and now you're trying to get the taste out of your mouth?"

"This was a mistake," Regina insisted. "It was...endorphins and the Queen and- It doesn't matter. It was a mistake and it won't be repeated."

Once that was said, Regina stepped to the side and grabbed the duffle bag Emma had packed with water, changes of clothes for both of them, a couple rag towels to wipe off their sweat and a box of energy bars in case they needed a boost. The brunette slung it over her shoulder and glanced at Emma with a warning look that was a little soft around the edges. It didn't pack the same punch as one of Regina's usual glares and it didn't last long before Regina's attention was on the gym door, which was exactly where she went.

As Regina walked out the door, Emma stood in the dark, empty gym by herself with a dumbstruck expression. She tugged at her gray performance tank and breathed heavily as she failed to catch her breath. Regina hadn't given her much of a chance between their workout and their make out sessions.

Emma huffed and followed after Regina, who didn't have anywhere to go but the Mercedes parked on the street corner just outside. The other woman probably wanted space given how adamant she'd been about not repeating that mistake of a kiss, but Regina didn't have the luxury of space unless she was willing to go home. Unfortunately, that meant any "mistakes" they made weren't easily hidden either, especially with a nosy thirteen-year-old sharing their living space.

Their return to the nice apartment Emma and Henry had called home for a whole year came fifteen minutes after Regina had hurried out of the gym. Just as quickly as the brunette had fled from Emma then, she took off across the apartment as soon as Emma opened the door and disappeared inside her bedroom. Regina slammed the door shut and in seconds, Henry neglected his game and was on his feet to greet Emma with a curious but slightly sour expression.

"What?" Emma's tone was less than friendly and Henry didn't deserve that, but after what had happened and the way he looked at her she couldn't help how her words sounded.

"Did you say something to her," Henry asked.

"What kind of relationship would she and I have if we didn't talk," Emma sarcastically shot back.

"You know what I mean. You went to the gym like you've been doing the last two days and you didn't have a problem until tonight."

Emma sighed and asked, "And that automatically makes it my fault?"

"She's the one that's upset. So you must have done something."

"Whatever our problems are, Henry, they're _ours_. Not yours."

Henry rolled his eyes and Emma tried not to feel so strongly about how much he looked like Regina in that moment. She both loved and hated the similarity. Thankfully, the look didn't stick. He sighed and trudged back to the couch where he sat back down and resumed his game.

"So, what are you gonna do," Henry asked as he tapped away at his controller with his thumbs and forefingers. "Are you gonna talk to her or give her time to cool off?"

"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do," Emma said as she bent down and grabbed the duffle bag Regina had carelessly left on the floor near the door. She picked it up and deposited it on one of the chairs at the bar-style kitchen counter before she crossed into the living room. "I'm gonna play video games with my son."

She took the other controller from the coffee table and settled beside Henry on the couch. Emma smiled at him and waited for the current round to finish before she pestered him into making it a two player game. When he added her to the game, she relaxed a little and pushed the unexpected yet enjoyable kiss with Regina to the back of her mind as she focused her attention on the game.

Three rounds later, Henry went to his room, which was right across from Regina's, and Emma went to her bed on the other side of the apartment near the small space she considered a home gym. It was an open area just beyond the kitchen and had a few reasonably sized pieces of equipment like a treadmill and some weights. If it didn't make too much noise, Emma would have jumped on the treadmill and jogged until she was exhausted enough to collapse into bed. But the sound of her labored breathing mixed with the hum of the machine, the beep of the monitor that tracked her stats and the thuds of her footfalls on the belt were likely to disturb Henry and Regina. Without being able to run off the flashes of memory and unanswered questions that plagued her mind, Emma struggled to repress her thoughts about the kisses at the gym. As she settled in for the night, Regina and the earlier exchange at the gym invaded all parts of her conscience and carried into her subconscious as she dreamed.

* * *

"We're out of eggs," was the first thing Emma understood as she woke up to the sight of Henry at her bedside. Her sense of smell was what pulled her back to consciousness as the aroma of strong coffee permeated the apartment and was then followed by her hearing, which then led to sight. And there was Henry with a neutral expression as he stood close and informed her about the lack of eggs.

Emma sighed and rubbed her eyes as she rolled onto her back and scooted closer to the other side of the bed, away from Henry. "Tell Regina. For a kid with two moms you definitely don't have the ability to talk to the right one for a problem this small this early."

"Mom already knows. She also knows we're out of sausage, bacon, waffles, pancake mix- We're out of everything, Ma."

"Then you two can go to the store and let me sleep in. I'm tired," Emma grumbled and turned onto her side. With her back to Henry, she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

Apparently, that wasn't an option.

The covers were yanked right off her body and left her exposed to the semi-cold air in only an oversized white T-shirt and red panties.

"Gross," Henry exclaimed. "Wait until I'm on the other side of the apartment before either of you tries to flash me."

A flash of his black shirt and plaid, blue and white pajama pants led Emma's quickly opened eyes to the person responsible for stealing the covers. Regina held the comforter in one hand at the foot of the bed as she glared down at the blonde. It was a much more scathing look than the one she'd given after the incident in the gym.

"Get dressed. We're going out to breakfast," Regina said with a no-nonsense tone of voice that left no room for argument.

The brunette released Emma's sheets and walked into the kitchen. Regina grabbed a white mug off the counter and sipped what Emma assumed was the strong coffee she smelled without another word or look of acknowledgement.

While Regina enjoyed her morning coffee, something Emma doubted she'd be able to enjoy before they left, the blonde rolled out of bed and retrieved a pair of snug fitting jeans from her nearby dresser. She wriggled them on before she tossed her shirt onto her unmade bed and grabbed a black and white, ¾ sleeve baseball tee. She also grabbed a black, thin-strapped racerback sports bra to replace the more basic black one she'd worn to bed.

Emma looked over at Regina and saw that the other woman continued to stand at the counter, Emma's view a profile of Regina's face, but seemed engrossed in whatever the brunette had pulled up on her phone. Emma turned her back to Regina and took a bold chance that neither the brunette nor Henry would look her way in the next thirty seconds as she stripped out of one bra and into another. Almost as soon as she added socks and black ankle boots to her outfit, Henry emerged from his room in a red shirt and a pair of jeans with his usual black coat, which hung off one shoulder.

He was in the middle of putting it on, his red and gray scarf in his other hand, as he walked over to her and Regina. It wasn't until he stood near the kitchen counter that he shrugged his coat the rest of the way on, but he left it unbuttoned as he stood there and looked between his two mothers.

After Regina finished her coffee and rinsed it out, Emma liberated her red leather jacket from the coat closet on their way out the door. Regina was, of course, already dressed for the day—heels included—before she'd had her coffee, so the three of them were seated in a red, vinyl booth at a local diner within twenty minutes of their fortunately hassle-free exit.

Like Granny's Diner, Emma was familiar with the menu and had no use for one. She wasn't a regular at the Manhattan diner by any means, especially since she hadn't been back there in a little over a year, so she didn't recognize the wait staff and they didn't seem to recognize her. Even with the anonymity there that she didn't have at home in Storybrooke, the atmosphere was still friendly and familiar and it was just the kind of casual place with decent food that she could be comfortable in outside of the fairytale-filled town. And that was the only sane thought Emma was capable of before their waitress, a forty-something woman with light and graying hair and a healthy amount of meat on her bones, returned to their booth with orange juice for Henry and Regina and a steaming cup of coffee for her.

"Thank you," she practically moaned as she leaned over her coffee and deeply inhaled the almost-fresh brewed scent. She added cream and a bit of sugar while the older woman laughed and took Henry and Regina's order. They handed over their menus, including Emma's unnecessary one, while she stirred her coffee and then gave her own order.

"Coming right up," the woman said with a cheerful smile as she finished scribbling in her notepad. She looked over the three of them with that same smile before she directed her next words at Regina. "You have a beautiful family."

Emma snorted out her coffee as she choked on it and spit it back into the mug. She wiped off the remnants of liquid on her upper lip and nose with her hand just in time to smile up at the waitress with a clean face. The waitress then walked over to the kitchen before any of them could say anything.

Emma smiled while Henry laughed into his hand and Regina sat stiffly across from the two of them. The tension that radiated off her was palpable and thankfully Henry either didn't care of didn't notice. Emma, on the other hand, wasn't able to ignore it. She was the only other adult at the table, despite Henry's constant insistence he wasn't a little kid anymore, and as an adult, Emma had to be responsible when it came to getting along with her co-parent.

"Hey," she carefully approached the subject. "Whatever issue you might have with what that woman just said, we _are_ family. So, she isn't wrong. It's not inappropriate, if that's where your head is at right now."

"Yeah," Henry agreed as his smile remained but his laughter faded. "You're my moms."

"I don't know what exactly she's thinking, but it can't be that you gave him up at birth and I was both cursed and blessed to adopt him, the blood of my enemy—"

"Former enemy," Emma unhelpfully corrected.

"And ever since you stormed into my town and broke my curse, we fight supernatural crime on a daily basis. A savior and a queen raising a child and kicking magical ass together, but definitely not a couple because my soulmate is dead and you're dating the disgusting Disney pirate."

Regina spoke with malice and an unamused look in her eyes as she clawed at the rubber lining around the light colored wood of their table. The woman tensed her jaw once she'd said all she'd apparently needed to say, and it would have been funny if Regina hadn't just blurted out the insane truth about their lives in a very public place.

"Mom, take it easy with the fairytale talk," Henry nervously—and surprisingly—warned Regina as he looked around with a paranoid expression.

"Kid, even if someone heard her they probably wouldn't think twice about it. They'd just write it off as crazy talk and move on. No one's gonna put us in a strait jacket. It's a big city. People all just kind of mind their own business here."

"What about our waitress? You sure she wouldn't call someone if she heard any of that," Henry eyes with raised eyebrows and a challenging expression so much like Regina's.

Emma chuckled and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure your mom just let off all the steam she's going to in this diner and our waitress is in the back telling the cook our orders. No harm done. Just drink your juice and relax."

"I'm not going to tell her all the details," Regina said. "But I will correct her about our relationship."

"What's there to correct," Emma asked, a little exasperated. "We share a son—"

"But we don't share wedding rings or a last name or a bed. We don't- We aren't together."

"Would that be so bad?"

Emma instantly looked at Henry, her eyes wider than ever, and tensed her shoulders.

"What?" Henry looked from Emma to Regina. "Would it? Things would be easier. Right?"

"Henry," Emma slowly started to form a response. "I thought...I thought you liked Killian."

Henry shrugged. "I'm okay with whoever makes you happy."

"Are you- You're saying you don't think I'm happy?"

"I don't know. Maybe you are, but- It kind of makes sense. And Mom—" Henry stopped himself as his eyes shot to Regina. "Never mind. I'm sorry. After Robin...I shouldn't be talking about this stuff. Just forget I said anything. Sorry."

Henry retreated into himself then and didn't lighten up until their food was served. While he used his food as an excuse to keep quiet, Emma moved her own food around on her plate as she occasionally looked up to gauge where Regina was at after the awkward conversation. The brunette had refrained from correcting their waitress like she'd wanted to do and had since closed herself off even worse than Henry.

They definitely needed to talk the next time they went down to the gym.


	2. Chapter 2

Conversation seemed to be the farthest thing from Regina's mind two nights later. It had also been the last thing she'd seemed to want to do between then and now. Two days was a long time to avoid talking and the most Emma got out of Regina in that time was what groceries they needed and when the brunette wanted to go back to the gym.

After hours, as per their arrangement with the owner, they were back at the gym and left most of the lights off while Regina refused to learn anything new and instead went at Emma like she'd once tried to do when Graham and Henry were the center of their problems with each other.

Emma ducked a wide swing from Regina, a closed fist aimed at her face, and grabbed the other woman around the waist. She pushed Regina back like a football player charging another. When Regina started to pound her fists against her back, she shoved the brunette away. The other woman stumbled back a few steps, but it didn't stop her.

Regina rushed toward her in a loose, charcoal gray yoga tank and snug, black yoga capri pants. Her eyes were wild yet focused; focused on Emma and whatever the woman intended to do to her. It didn't frighten Emma, but she certainly didn't feel comfortable with how the other woman looked and acted in that moment.

"Regina, I get it. You're angry. I don't know if it's just one thing in particular or everything that's happened recently that's setting you off, but not talking about it isn't going to help."

"Really? Because I thought that was the entire reason for us being here," Regina replied. She clenched her fists and kicked at Emma seconds later.

Emma caught her by the ankle and pressed a hand to Regina's chest. She was forceful but gentle as she pushed the brunette back, her hand still wrapped around Regina's ankle, and cradled the back of Regina's head with the hand she'd used to push the brunette. She moved with Regina as the other woman lost her foot and fell to the ground, her head cushioned by Emma's hand.

When Regina's back hit the ground, Emma released the woman's ankle and her hand got caught between the back of the brunette's thigh and her calf when the blonde tried to slip free and press her palm into the floor beneath them.

Regina's knee was level with the side of Emma's head. The brunette was a quick movement away from draping her leg over Emma's shoulder. Emma's hips were positioned between Regina's and rested partially against the floor while her right leg rested mostly on top of Regina's left. It had happened by accident, but that didn't change the intimacy of their position. It also didn't make it any easier to handle that intimacy, because suddenly the sight and feel of Regina beneath her was all she knew.

She watched Regina's chest heave a few times before the moment was abruptly ended by a kick to the head. Regina used her position to smash the side of her calve against Emma's cheek and ear and pushed. Given the force and the way the brunette bucked her hips like the expert horseback rider she was, Regina fluidly flipped them over and landed with her thighs stretched across Emma's chest and her knees on the floor near the blonde's shoulders.

Emma lay on her back, pinned beneath Regina, while the brunette straddled her chest. Regina wasn't all that heavy, but when the woman sat on her in a way that constricted airflow it became a problem. She grabbed Regina's hips, her forearms and wrists curled around the other woman's ass, and pushed Regina forward.

Regina surged over Emma's head willingly and rolled on her side. As Emma rolled onto her stomach, Regina popped up onto her hands and knees.

"At least just tell me if what you're feeling has anything to do with me," Emma said as she rose to her feet. She took a combative stance in case Regina felt like attacking again and waited. She stared at Regina with wide eyes as wisps of hair that had slipped free from her ponytail billowed in front of her gaze with every puffed out breath and burst of breeze from the A/C.

"All of it! Everything has to do with you," Regina replied. "Ever since you came to Storybrooke. If I really think about it, my life was derailed the second you were born."

"Okay, so you're blaming baby me for all your problems?"

" _Some_ problems are your fault, but no. I'm not _blaming_ you. Well, I'm _trying_ not to blame you. You just seem to be at the center of everything. I can't- I don't even have my own life anymore because now I'm not Henry's only parent—"

"I thought we were passed that, Re—"

"We are! But that doesn't change the fact that no matter what I do, who I'm with or what I say it will always, somehow, come back to you."

"Who you're with? Are you pinning everything that happened with Robin on me?"

Rage sparked to life in Regina's brown eyes. "Before he came to this city, what tore him and I apart _was_ you."

"No, it was your psycho sister posing as your ' _soulmate_ 's dead wife."

It was the exact wrong thing to say. She knew it as soon as she thought it, but that didn't stop Emma from saying it. At the gym, there was no filter. If Regina needed to get something off her chest, Emma would let her. And Emma had a few issues to air out, too. It was a win-win.

At least until Regina had a hand around her throat in the blink of an eye.

Emma hadn't realized how close Regina was until she had to fight the brunette every step of the way to keep her back off the wall. When she had proper footing, she was able to use her leg strength to hold her place in the middle of the gym floor. That pushed her throat further into Regina's hand, which tightened after a few seconds. She grabbed Regina's wrist and closed her eyes as she tried to control her breathing as much as possible. She nodded, just the slightest movement of her head due to her restriction, and squeezed Regina's wrist once and then immediately loosened her grip.

Just as she started to go limp, Regina let go. Emma gasped for breath then coughed before she fell to her knees. Regina backed away from her and, when Emma looked up, she watched the other woman run her hands through her hair. Emma cleared her throat and rubbed at it for a moment before she was finally able to regulate her breathing. It took a couple minutes, but she was successful and Regina let it happen without another attack. The brunette hadn't actually moved in all that time.

Emma looked up and saw the sadness and shock in Regina's eyes as the other woman stared down at the ground to the left of Emma's feet. She knew the brunette was deep in thought and could tell by the emotion in the woman's eyes that what Regina had done had pained the other woman.

"It's okay," Emma gently told her. "Call it a relapse or whatever and move on. I'm not mad and you didn't kill me, so it's fine."

"It's not fine, Emma." There was an edge to Regina's voice, but she at least looked less scared of her own actions then. Less scared, but more upset. "I could havekilled you."

"But you didn't."

"I almost did. This is exactly why I didn't want to be in Storybrooke."

"So you wouldn't have access to your magic. I know."

"But I can still hurt you," Regina said as she closed her eyes and clenched and unclenched her fists at her sides. The brunette's entire body was tense from her shoulders to her hips and even her bent knees, like she was ready to bolt at any moment.

"I'm teaching you how to fight and defend yourself, Regina. It means you're learning."

"Choking someone when only verbally provoked is not self-defense and you know it," the other woman growled her reply and glared at her as soon as brown eyes flew open again.

"I told you, it was a relapse. I hit a nerve. It happens."

"I think it's time I start using a punching bag from now on. Teach me whatever you think will help let out my frustration, but I can't take it out on you."

"The fact that you want to protect me from yourself shows progress," Emma explained. "That's a good thing."

Regina shook her head before she took on a strict tone. "Hold the bag and make sure I can't punch you in the face if you say something _else_ to upset me," the brunette said as she motioned to the black punching bag on the other side of the room.

With a sigh, Emma moved toward the bag and nodded in agreement. Regina followed at a small but safe distance.

"Okay. First thing you should know about using the bag is to tape up your hands," Emma instructed as she moved to the section of cubbies on the wall past the punching bag.

Once at the cubbies, she looked around for a moment before she found the tape and grabbed it. She took it back over to the bag and unraveled some of it. She taped up her own hands before she reached for Regina.

Reluctantly, the brunette extended one hand with her palm up and Emma cupped it in hers before she turned it over. She then proceeded to tape up Regina's knuckles one hand at a time and when she was done, she set the tape down on the floor a few paces away from the bag. She ensured it was out of reach of either of their feet so they wouldn't kick it somewhere or, even worse, trip over it and sprain their ankles.

When Emma stood up straight again, the tape just far enough away, she watched Regina stare at her hands as she flexed her fingers and made fists a few times. It was another moment before Regina looked up and met her gaze.

"You ready?"

Regina inhaled and then nodded. The brunette stepped closer to the bag as she exhaled and focused all her attention on it. "What do I do first?"

Emma didn't usually hesitate, especially when it came to punching things or working out in other ways, but she paused as she looked over Regina. She stared for several seconds at focused, expressive brown eyes before her gaze roamed lower. Protruding collarbone and raised shoulders, relaxed breathing as the woman's chest rose and fell evenly, left foot in front of the right with an open stance and relaxed fists where they stayed curled but not closed at chest level.

"Emma?"

She snapped out of her mini-trance and cleared her throat as she forced a nervous smile. "Yeah. Sorry. Um, now you've got to make a fist. Your thumb should rest over your index and middle fingers. Outside of the fist. Don't tuck it inside your other fingers or you'll break your thumb when you impact whatever it is you're punching."

"Like this?"

Emma looked at Regina's left hand and then the other before she nodded her approval. "Yeah, just like that." She stepped behind the bag and used it to block her body from future punches and hold it steady for the woman punching it. "Alright, make sure you're balanced on the balls of your feet. Keep them shoulder-width apart to maintain that balance.

"Now throw your arm forward and put your weight behind it. Aim to hit the bag with your first two knuckles, on the index and middle fingers. Tilt your wrist down as you swing and have your knuckles in front of your fingers. Show me how that looks. Slowly. A mock punch."

Through Regina's confusion, she moved her closed right fist toward the bag at a snail's pace. Her fingers were in the right position, but she hadn't adjusted her wrist as was needed.

"Stop," Emma told her. "Adjust the angle of your arm a little and turn your fist. You should be focusing on hitting the bag with the flat part of your hand between those two knuckles."

Regina paused and complied.

"Good," Emma said. "Keep your chin down, dipped toward your chest to keep it protected. If you're fighting someone else and your chin is exposed, one hit could knock you back hard."

"Okay," Regina replied before she ducked her chin a little.

Emma looked down at the other woman's feet again. They were mostly right, but no punch would be effective if she didn't correct the brunette's feet even the slightest bit.

"Alright. You've almost got it. Make sure your back foot is pointed away from you and the bag, or opponent if the bag was actually a person. Your front foot, the left, should be at about a forty-five-degree angle. So it's not pointed directly at your target, but it's facing the general direction."

She waited until Regina followed directions and when she'd fixed that as well, Emma went back to talking Regina through the rest of the process.

"Keep your left fist up in front of your cheek and the right held just under your chin. Bend your knees and make sure you aren't angled too much to the side or full on facing the bag."

Regina stood in a tight and damn near perfect fighting line. It made Emma smile.

"Good. Okay, now keep your elbows in close and tight. Yeah, like that. The best place on the body to aim for is the chest or ribs. Ribs if you're a little off to the side of your opponent and chest if you have that kind of straight on access. Like you do right now."

"So, if I want to aim for the chest…"

"Pretend like you've got X-ray vision, like Superman, and see through the bag. Pretend I'm the body you're trying to hit and see through the bag to know where my chest is. Then you swing. You don't have to swing hard or fast, not yet, but for now just aim at where my chest is behind this bag. One punch. When you're ready."

Regina nodded once and then set her fists again, ducked her chin and stared hard at the bag for a long moment. Her intense gaze didn't let up as she threw her fist at the bag and made contact at Emma's chest level.

Emma felt the hit through the bag, but it wasn't significant. No damage was done, but there was promise behind the punch. With a little more work and a little more force, Regina would have a good grip on proper punches.

"That's good. Follow through with a twist of your hips, like you just did, and let your shoulder move with you. It's all a natural flow of your body."

Regina punched the bag again with a little more speed and her hips and shoulder glided toward the bag as she moved.

The impact was harder than the first punch and Emma's smile brightened. "Perfect. Now, I want you to try a jab-cross. It's two punches. First one with your dominant hand and the second with your other hand. Okay?"

"Okay."

Regina set herself again and took a few breaths, her eyes trained on the bag again with just as much intensity as before, prior to a confident one-two punch.

"Great," Emma encouraged. "Again."

Another round of punches just as certain as before, but less intense than Regina's stare, came and went. Regina pulled back her arms one at a time as she moved. It was as natural as the follow through.

"Good. Your jab is good. Your cross needs a little work, but that's only because it's not your dominant hand. Practicing fixes that. It's more about being comfortable in your stance and strengthening your swing."

Regina inhaled deeply through her nose and nodded. The brunette remained in her fighting stance for another moment before she exhaled through her mouth and dropped her fists.

Emma moved away from the bag, but kept a hand on it for a few more seconds. "You good for tonight? Or is there more you need to get out of your system?"

Regina didn't respond at first. The other woman stood tense and still in front of the bag. Neither leg was in front of the other, but were still close to shoulder-width apart.

"Regina? You okay?"

Regina closed her eyes and the two of them stood in complete silence for a few minutes. The only sounds to fill the room were muted city noises of cars in the distance and the occasional gust of wind against the glass window panes in the double doors to the gym. When Regina opened her eyes again, she looked at Emma and said, "Maybe we should take another day off from all this."

"Okay. Yeah, sure. We can do that," Emma replied. "There's, um, there's this restaurant on the other side of the park that Henry loved when we lived here. Maybe we can go there for dinner tomorrow. And the three of us can watch a movie or something when we get back."

"I'm much more agreeable to that instead of cooking for the three of us. Again. Maybe I should refresh those memories I gave you about how to make a meal that didn't come from the frozen food section."

Emma rolled her eyes, but smiled as she did. "Alright. Come on. The faster we get this tape off, the sooner we can get back to Henry and binge on ice cream."

Regina huffed. "I can't believe how much junk food you snuck into that shopping cart. You and Henry both."

"It's not sneaking if you still let us have it after you realized it was in there. And it's not like you didn't get plenty Chunky Monkey to last you a few weeks. Unless you plan to inhale it all in one sitting. I'm definitely not opposed to seeing that."

"Of course you aren't," Regina practically groaned before she started to pick at the tape wrapped snugly around her knuckles.

"I'd actually like to join you if that's what you plan on doing later," Emma added.

"Don't even think about touching my Chunky Monkey," Regina said with an Evil Queen glare and Scolding Mother tone.

Emma chuckled and pulled off the tape on her own hands. Regina may have snapped earlier—Robin was definitely still a very sore subject even after a couple months, apparently—but the brunette found another solution to that anger. The other woman had calmed down enough to suggest moving on to the punching bag and that, whether Regina knew or believed it, was the first step in dealing with the darker impulses of the Evil Queen she'd been reunited with only one week before their trip to New York.

Regina removed her tape seconds after Emma had ripped off her own and with another bright smile, she grabbed their shared gym bag and waited for the brunette at the front door. "I'm still gonna have some of your ice cream."

"Try it. See what happens as soon as I get my magic back."

"That's just the Queen talking."

"Weren't you the one that helped me realize she and I are one in the same? She's my past and what— _who_ I am now is only because I've grown since my bad girl days?"

"I didn't call them your bad girl days, but yeah. Who the hell called you a bad girl?"

"Maleficent," Regina casually answered with a roll of her shoulder.

Emma snorted. "Kinky."

"Wouldn't you like to know," Regina purred, her lips curled into a sinful grin.

Emma froze in place and watched Regina strut out of the gym toward the Mercedes with a cocky and alluring sway to her hips. Yep. Doomed.

* * *

 **Note:** I was going to wait to post this until I had more of the next chapter finished, but something came up and I might not have a lot of time in the next week to write. So, I thought I'd post this before I don't even have time to proof read or edit an already written chapter. Hope you enjoyed this one.


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